Serge Ibaka made headlines — and sounded pretty foolish — when he said Monday that LeBron James is not a good defender and couldn’t cover Kevin Durant one-on-one. Because so many people can.

So LeBron, what do you think of that?

“I don’t really care what he says, he’s stupid,” James said, then saying every series somebody says something about him and the media tries to blow it up. “It’s stupid.”

LeBron later tried to backtrack saying it wasn’t personal against Ibaka. Personally, I like that there’s a little fire between these teams right now. It will make for a better Game 4 Tuesday night in Miami.

Kevin Durant was much more tactful.

“(Ibaka was) just taking up for me and taking up for our whole team,” Durant said. “LeBron is a good defender. I’ll tell him that. He’s a good defender.

“But it’s not about him, it’s about us, what we can do. We can’t come into the game worried about how he’s going to guard me, how he’s going to guard Russ, how he’s going to guard James. We can’t worry about that. We just have to play our games and that’s basically what Serge was saying.”

As for the game itself, Thunder Coach Scott Brooks said the Thunder have to play at a faster pace than Game 3. There were just 90 possessions in Game 3 (although there were just 89 in the Thunder’s game 1 win, they were just more efficient). Brooks said he thought if the tempo picked up he expected that would help James Harden.

LeBron also said he expected a desperate Thunder team that knows it can’t go down 3-1. He said the Heat had to play with the same level of desperation and treat this as a must-win game.

I will say after seeing them in person, the Heat look relaxed. They look comfortable on the stage and at home. Durant and team are going to have to work hard to knock them out of that zone.

I don’t remember playing tonight. I didn’t play. Guys get a lot of money to be ready to play. No Knute Rockne speeches. It’s your job. If you’re a plumber and you don’t do your job, you don’t get any work. I don’t think a plumber needs a pep talk. If a doctor botches operations, he’s not a doctor anymore. If you’re a basketball player, you come ready. It’s called maturity. It’s your job.

Like it or not, motivation is part of an NBA coach’s job.

But that’s also precisely what Popovich is doing.

His credentials dwarf any other coach’s. He can play to his own ego and absolve himself of responsibility – and players will seek to please him. His years of success have earned him the ability to motivate this way, a method no other coach could use without alienating his team.

So, why not hold Motiejunas to what became a four-year, $31 million offer sheet once matched? Houston got something in return – a later trigger date on guaranteeing Motiejunas’ 2017-18 salary. Originally, that decision had to be made March 1 – which would’ve meant dropping Motiejunas from the team this season to prevent his salary from counting next season. Now, the Rockets can make that call in July, after this season is complete.

The following two Julys, Houston will also have a choice on guaranteeing Motiejunas’ upcoming salary or dropping him.

Essentially, Motiejunas is signing the most lucrative Hinkie Special in NBA history. If he plays well and stays healthy, the Rockets have Motiejunas at an affordable rate. If he struggles or his back injuries flare up, they can drop him with little to no penalty.

After they backed themselves into this corner, Motiejunas and his agent, B.J. Armstrong, didn’t do so bad. Considering the similarity between this contract and the Nets’ original offer sheet, it seems Houston helped Armstrong save face after a bungled free agency (which is easier to accept when you’re adding a talented reserve to a formidable team).

But for how little is guaranteed and how much control the Rockets hold over the next four years, wouldn’t Motiejunas have been better off accepting the $4,433,683 qualifying offer?

This means Motiejunas can’t sign with the Nets, who signed him to the original offer sheet, for one year.

I bet it also means Motiejunas and Houston have agreed to a new contract. Otherwise, why release him from the offer sheet? The Rockets would be giving up a tremendous amount of leverage out of the goodness of their hearts – unless this is just a prelude to a new deal with Houston.